Quick Guide to Successfully Opening Your Swimming Pool

As the weather warms up and we quickly approach spring, it’s time to start thinking about opening up your swimming pool! If your pool was properly winterized in the cooler months, then opening it should be fairly easy. It is always a good idea to hire a pool professional like The Pool Butler in order to ensure that your pool is properly balanced and clean for your family; but if you would like to do the process yourself, you can find a full guide on our website. In the meantime, here are some helpful tips to help make your life easier during the process.

Before you even begin opening your pool, you should ensure that the surrounding area is clean and free from debris – this simply guarantees that the debris will not end up in the pool after all of your hard work is completed. At this stage it is also a good idea to go ahead and prune any nearby hedges or trees.

When you are ready to remove the cover, it is helpful if you remove any water on top of the cover with either a pump or a shop vac, to avoid mixing it with the water inside your pool. You can also make the process easier by raising the pool’s water level before you remove the cover; ideally, the water level should be halfway up the skimmers.

After you open your pool you should inspect it for any damage – it is important that you inspect the pump and filter, but do not run those until your water level is halfway up the skimmers. Different types of pools have different things that should be inspected. Vinyl pools should be inspected for holes or tears and those should be repaired immediately if any are found. Gunite pools should be inspected for cracks, and those should also be repaired as soon as possible. It is normal for fiberglass pools to have hairline cracks, so they should be inspected for other damage and major cracks.

When you are ready to add chemicals and/or cleaners to the pool, it is important that you are using products that have not expired and products that were stored properly during the off season.